June 25, 2009: Cal Nichols said that losing the City Centre Airport would have a greater economic impact than if the city lost the Oilers.
December 13, 2009: The future of the Katz Group owned Oilers won't be secure in Edmonton unless a new arena is built, says former Oilers owner Cal Nichols, an adviser on the new downtown arena proposal.
According to Forbes Magazine, the Edmonton Oilers annual revenue has increased from $40 million in 2000 to $83 million in 2009. The magazine lists the Edmonton Oilers with a $9.4 million operational income in 2009, one of the highest in the NHL.
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Eventually, he's going to be saying that unless we build a new arena on the old airport lands...
ReplyDeleteWill the obnoxious Oilers fans leave with the team?
ReplyDeleteThe we won't have to worry about Whyte Ave getting trashed every time the Oilers win a playoff game.
It's just hockey.
Is there a contradiction? Closing airport will have huge negative impact, so would losing the Oilers. The Oilers need a new arena in order to survive.... what is your point?
ReplyDeleteDidn't Cal Nichols say that that losing the Oilers would have a greater economic impact than if we lost the Tar Sands?
ReplyDeleteYou're right Brent, poor Oilers are just barely scraping by with one of the highest operating revenues in the league.
ReplyDeleteThose two aren't really a contradiction, Dave. As for Forbes, the Oilers are also one of the lowest-ranked teams in terms of financial worth. I will note that you once criticized the Journal for doing a cover story on what was effectively no-new-news on the matter. Care to comment on the hiring of AEG for design work, or anything you may have read in Staples' multi-part feature regarding the issue and how revitalization helped other cities?
ReplyDeleteRoman: I never said they were contradictions.
ReplyDeleteWe Edmontonians won't allow Katz to get a dime of OUR MONEY.
ReplyDeleteNichols and Katz think they run this city. They don't. We do. I thought Nichols learned that with his airport fiasco.
Nichols credibility dropped to zil after his airport silliness. After this its in the negatives.
Right you are, Dave. I amend my comment to say that it is too soon to tell whether Cal is, in fact, crying wolf. It does seem like it, but he could very well end up being right on both counts.
ReplyDeleteAll of these stats and comments prove that we need to keep the city centre airport in Edmonton.
ReplyDeleteCal Nichols also backed Mark Norris's leadership run. Need anything more be said?
ReplyDelete